Thursday, May 28, 2009

Only a week or so to go until the West Dean "Hand Tool Event". This will be the second year of this show, and I'm real excited about it. Last years event, being the first one, was very enjoyable (and attracted some stars - Brian Boggs and Garrett Hack!) and was quite a success. It was also unique in that it was only hand tools - no power tools in sight. All the attendees were hand tool nuts, and there was a real buzz in the air.

Word has gotten around about that show and I have no doubt that this years event will be twice as big. I'm feverishly working away to have new items to show off - so do make sure you call by my bench and say "Hi!".

Friday, May 22, 2009

Had an excellent week in the workshop and made some good progress. The Hollows and Rounds are about complete, just need to finish testing them out - pictures soon. And I've been busy starting some fillisters and skew miters.

The guitar project.....

All the components have safely arrived and I'm really pleasd with the service I received - I bought everything I needed from Axes R Us, and they were superb -quick delivery and excellent prices. If you need any guitar components they are worth checking out.

So its routing template time......

I made the template for the pickup cavities so, after removing the majority of the waste with a forstner bit in the drill press, I attahched the template with double sided sticky tape (yes, it does work) and cleaned up the recesses with the router. A very neat and professional looking result!

After drilling a hole between the two pickup recesses with an extra long spade bit I turned my attention to the back. The controls recess needed to be made as well as a lip around the recess for a cover to sit on. Another template! This time I made a female for the recess and a male to make a matching cover. With the waste removed with the drill press I routed the lip and then cleaned up the bottom with the router. Job done!

Next task is to decide exactly where the controls will go and drill out for them. Then the fingerboard need completing and we can get sanding - exciting stuff!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Had a busy week working on non-plane related things. First up were a set of fitted shelving units for a friend. Made from oak veneered MDF, they came out a treat - now the Wife has designs for something suitable for our lounge.

Then I installed a fitted bedroom suite for a another frie

nd - lots of woodwork fun!

With those tasks out of the way I was happy to get back to the comfort of my workshop. The Hollows and Rounds are coming along nicely and I've been roughing out timber for upcoming plane orders, as well as stock for the upcoming West Dean "Hand Tool Event". I hear that Karl Holtey is attending this, and I'm really looking forward to picking his brains!

The electric guitar project has fallen behind a little, so I knocked up a router template for the pick-up cavities. Hopefully I'll rout those tomorrow and make some more progress - all the components I need are now safely in the workshop.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Finally recovered from my infection - took longer than expected, and probably not helped by the sawdusty atmosphere of my workshop. But thanks for all the thoughful emails, much appreciated!

Last weekend was the WL West woodworking show at Petworth, West Sussex. I've been meaning to make a visit there for a while and the opportunity to attend the show and demonstrate my planes was perfect. It is held at their sawmills, a very professional and smart location, which has a hobbiest shop and self-selection timber yard too.

The show was very enjoyable and there was a lot of different woody things to see, from turning demonstrations, carving, musical instrument making and displays from colleges. There was also top axe man Steve Woodley on display, carving a beam from a huge oak log. I know it was huge as I helped him move the thing into position - my back still feels slightly shorter ;)

British Woodworking editor Nick Gibbs was also there spreading word about his magazines (as well as whittling away at branches on his clever shavehorse. And Mike and Alex from Classic Hand Tools were there with their usual range of high quality hand tools to make woodworkers drool.

So I'm back in the workshop and getting stuck into some more planes - this week some more hollows and rounds for a customer in Canada and a moving fillister, shoulder plane and brass soled smoother.